World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will face Czech player Linda Noskova at the 2024 Australian Open in an upcoming match. Swiatek is the odds-on favorite to win the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park 2024 (bet365). She had a mild scare in the second round, dropping a set en route to a three-set victory. She remains the confident pick of many to advance through Noskova, priced at -1400 on the moneyline for this upcoming match. My Swiatek vs Noskova prediction is that the latter player will hit for her backers on a +6.5 game handicap.
Order of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Iga Swiatek vs Linda Noskova Head-to-Head Series
The Swiatek vs Noskova h2h is 1-0 in the World No. 1's favor. These two players faced one another in 2023 at a tournament in Poland. Swiatek won the match without much difficulty, 6-1, 6-4.
From a shorter-term perspective, Swiatek has been amazing recently. Her dropped set in the second round was one of only two she has had in recent matches. She was a straight-sets winner in the opening round and, at the United Cup earlier this season, she won five matches with just one dropped set. Also, if you go back to the World Tour Finals in Cancun, she went 5-0 in her matches -- all of which were 2-0 victories.
Noskova is through two rounds at 4-1 on sets played. She beat Marie Bouzkova in the first round as an underdog. Noskova was in the Brisbane draw earlier this month where the 19-year-old made the semifinals before losing to Elena Rybakina. Noskova's recent form is somewhat out of the blue, although she beat Petra Kvitova and Liudmila Samsonova back in Cincinnati.
The way things look with Noskova is that she showed some signs of breaking out on tour in 2023. I think she refined her game over the offseason and is a determined young player who will be full of butterflies for this upcoming match -- for better or worse. Bettors should not be treating her like the World No. 50, which is her ranking. I would regard her as 30th to 35th at this point.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the Melbourne Park 2024
Swiatek vs Noskova Prediction: Noskova +6.5
-1400 on Swiatek should be passed up (bet365). With this match, bettors should go with Noskova's game handicap of +6.5 at odds of -120 (bet365).
Noskova vs Swiatek prediction: Draw at Melbourne Park 2024
Swiatek fans will have to keep tabs on Jelena Ostapenko. The Latvian is 4-0 against Swiatek on head-to-head matches. At the time of writing, Ostapenko was still in the second round. Her update can be checked here: Ostapenko vs Tomljanovic result. Swiatek fans will want to see Ostapenko going out. If the two players win all their matches, then they will face in the quarterfinals. The match represents the biggest threat to Swiatek due to the 0-4 heads-up record, which included a loss at the 2023 US Open.
Additional reading: All previews for upcoming tennis matches!
